Lebanon's Aoun urges stability after street protests

External Content

This content was published on January 30, 2018 2:53 PMJan 30, 2018 - 14:53

Lebanese President Michel Aoun speaks during a meeting in Rome, Italy, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

(reuters_tickers)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called on leaders to assume their responsibility in protecting the country's stability and security after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests.

Supporters of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a long time political adversary of Aoun, set ablaze tyres and blocked roads on Monday in protest against comments made by Aoun's son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil who had called him "a thug".

In one incident, gunfire erupted near offices of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) east of Beirut. The FPM and Berri's Amal movement traded blame over the incident.

"What happened on the ground is a big mistake based on (a previous) mistake," Aoun said in a statement.

(Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by William Maclean)

Neuer Inhalt

Horizontal Line

subscription form

Form for signing up for free newsletter.

Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.